Thug stabs two people with butchers knife he grabbed off a shelf in LA Target store 

A homeless man randomly stabbed two people shopping at a downtown Los Angeles Target store before being shot dead by a security guard.

Los Angeles police say the suspect, a 40-year-old black man in 'homeless attire,' grabbed a large butcher knife off the shelf and stabbed a nine-year-old boy and a 25-year-old Asian woman in an unprovoked attack Tuesday night.

It is just the latest crime committed by a homeless resident in the famed city as homebuyers look to flee.

Police Chief Michel Moore said the homeless man on Tuesday initially 'confronted' the young boy, who was shopping with his mother at the store, at around 6.20pm and told him 'he was going to stab him and kill him'.

'He repeated that more than once,' the police chief said at a news conference following the attack.

The boy tried to walk away, Moore said, when the suspect grabbed the knife off the shelf at the store and stabbed the young boy near the intersection of 7th Street and Figueroa in a neighborhood known for its shops and hi-rise apartments.

The boy suffered a deep wound to the back of his shoulder and fell to the floor.

Meanwhile, the unidentified suspect continued to walk around the store, where he approached a 25-year-old woman and stabbed her 'brutally' in the chest. 

Good Samaritans tried to help the woman, authorities say, and pulled her away to the pharmacy area of the store, closing the gate as she bled out. 

Authorities are pictured wheeling a 25-year-old victim out of a Target in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday night after she was stabbed by a homeless man

Authorities say the homeless thug grabbed a butchers knife from the shelf at a Target and stabbed a nine-year-old boy shopping with his mother and an unrelated 25-year-old woman

Police are pictured at the scene of the Target store following the rampage

Authorities cordoned off the area as an investigation into the stabbing spree continues

At that point, authorities say, the suspect approached a security guard at the front of the store.

The guard tried to de-escalate the situation and was going to use a baton to stop the madman, authorities say, but took out his gun as the suspect started to lunge at him with his knife raised.

The unnamed guard then shot the man in the torso, and authorities were able to take him into custody, but he later succumbed to his injuries at a local hospital.

He is not believed to have known his victims, who are not related to one another.

Moore said the boy underwent surgery and was in stable condition, but may have suffered potential neurological damage.

The woman, however, is believed to be in critical condition scheduled to undergo surgery Tuesday night. 

A third victim was also injured in a stampede that broke out as worried shoppers tried to run out the store, and was also brought to a local hospital. 

Fortunately, Moore said police were responding to another call at in FIGat7th shopping complex in the city’s Financial District when they learned of the stabbing.

Authorities will now remain on the scene  reviewing security footage and collecting evidence as they continue to investigate the incident.

The tragedy took place near the intersection of 7th Street and Figueroa in a neighborhood known for its shops and hi-rise apartments

In a news conference, Police Chief Michel Moore said the boy underwent surgery and is in stable condition, while the woman is believed to be in critical condition

Shocked customers described the bloody carnage they faced before LAPD officers stormed on the scene and shoppers were told to evacuate.

 'Out of nowhere, we heard people screaming,' Kevin Zaragoza, who was shopping with his younger brother, told ABC 7. 

'We rushed to the front,' he said. 'Right there by the exit, we see a girl on the floor, blood all over her.

'After that, we see the whole LAPD swarming in there with shotguns, all types of stuff,' Zaragoza said. 'It was crazy.' 

Franky Munoz also told KTLA how he thinks he saw the man saunter into the store, spewing racist remarks at him.

And once the rampage started, witnesses say, employees started screaming 'He has a knife' in a desperate attempt to get customers to flee the scene. 

LAPD officers are said to have 'swarmed' into the store with their shotguns. They are pictured outside the Target store following the rampage

The area in downtown Los Angeles is known for its hi-rise apartments and shopping

While the area was once a popular destination for shopping, ABC 7 reports, it has become almost a war zone with people afraid to venture outside as the city's homeless population explodes.

In fact, as an ABC 7 reporter was on the scene following the stabbing spree Tuesday night, he said he watched as homeless residents started taunting officers.

One woman even walked up to them and yelled at the cops, before urinating in public.

Moore now says more needs to be done to address the growing homeless problem. 

'Outreach, engagement services is a critical need,' he said at the news conference Tuesday night.

According to a recent Point-in-Time Count, conducted every other year on one or several winter nights, there were about seven Angelenos experiencing homelessness for every 1,000 residents this year.

The data also shows that one in every 200 residents in the county are living on the streets, while the sheltered homeless rate was 2.1 out of every 1,000 residents.

But experts warn the study likely undercounts the total number of homeless people. 

An enormous homeless encampment is pictured on a street on the west side of Los Angeles

A makeshift tent  between a camper and a recreational vehicle as homeless encampments sprout all over the city

A homeless person sits on the ground Thursday near a camper at an encampment in LA

LA County first started to see a large increase in its homeless population in 2013, coinciding with rising rents as most people entered the housing market after the 2008 recession, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. 

The county now spends about $800million annually to combat homelessness, and got an additional $1.5billion in one-time pandemic funding.

At the same time, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority has an annual budget of $729million, with $331million coming directly from the county.

But despite this influx of cash, the homeless crisis is only getting worse, with residents now reporting that some homeless Angelenos are syphoning water and power in camps sprouting throughout the city's streets.

In South-Central Los Angeles, one resident even took a picture of a shameless encampment with a working washing machine and even a oversized tent that an onlooker noted was blocking a local business.

On the 'door' to the unseen inhabitant's evidently homey tent, complete with a set of house plants adorning its entrance, a sign urged onlookers: 'Don't be hatin!'

One photo snapped by an awestruck bystander showed one such encampment in Hollywood, where multiple people were seen washing what looked to be their cars and motorcycles with syphoned water from a nearby hydrant

Meanwhile, crime in the city is only getting worse, with the LAPD reporting that total crime is now up 7.7 percent from the same time just one year prior.

Violent crimes are also up 2.8 percent, driven primarily by 11.7 percent increase in robberies, while property crimes are up 9.3 percent with personal thefts up 14.3 percent and burglaries up 12.6 percent. 

Now, many residents are seek8ing to flee the famed city, with RedFin marking it as the second most popular city people want to move from.